Skelton

I take great exception to "Americans Rate Reagan as an Average President." George Skelton wrote that "Although Reagan . . . led the nation from inflation through recession into prosperity," Americans still rate Reagan as merely an average President. The "prosperity" of which Skelton writes is undefinably questionable as fact--certainly not a reality to many millions of Americans. However, Skelton's article was so pro-Reagan that in it he not so subtly questioned the sense of those Americans polled--at least those who disagreed with his own apparent views.

Jerry Brown became the longest-serving governor in California history this month, surpassing Earl Warren's nearly 11 years in office. Brown's lead in the record books will widen if he runs for reelection next year and wins. In his Monday column , George Skelton takes stock of how Brown has changed from his first round in the governor's office, which lasted from 1975 to 1983. "Brown was not a very good governor during his first stint," Skelton says. "He was entertaining but distracted by presidential ambition, running two losing races.

In "Desperately Seeking Political Protection" (Opinion, June 17) we read of the coming barrage against Gov. Gray Davis by the Republican propaganda machine. On June 18 we read George Skelton's "These Flacks Are Costly, Mercenary--and Good" and The Times' editorial, "Small Waste, Big Pain," condemning Davis for hiring professional people to combat the spin masters of the right wing and the energy masters of the country. Neither Skelton nor the editorial has the chutzpah to address the validity of Davis' attack on the money changers who, by the way, are bleeding the U.S. into a depression.

Karin Higa Expert in Asian American art Karin Higa, 47, a specialist in Asian American art who worked for nearly a decade and a half as a curator at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, died Tuesday at her home in L.A., said Russell Ferguson, her husband. Ferguson, a professor in the art department at UCLA, said his wife had been diagnosed with cancer in February. Higa worked as a curator at the Japanese American National Museum from 1992 to 2006, rising to the rank of senior curator of art. She had recently been named a curator for the Hammer Museum's "Made in L.A. " Biennial for 2014 but was forced to step down because of her illness.

A customer gave birth to a baby boy at her local Barnes & Noble bookstore in Torrance on Friday, officials said. “I don't know if it happened near the classics or the nonfiction section - but it was definitely smack dab in the store lobby,” said Capt. Steve Deuel of the Torrance Fire Department. “This story begins with a call we got a little after 7:30 p.m. of a woman in labor in the bookstore,” Deuel said. “It was a little bit chaotic when we arrived because a lot of the customers didn't know what was happening.

SACRAMENTO -- Former state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) made it official Thursday. She will be a candidate for the seat being vacated by Zev Yaroslavsky on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Kuehl, who served as chair of the Senate Health Committee during part of her 14-year tenure in Sacramento, said the board was a natural fit for her policy interests. “I have been steeped in the very issues that are under the purview of our Supervisors every day,” Kuehl said in a statement mailed to supporters seeking donations for her campaign.

Thank you for bringing George Skelton's column on Sacramento events and state government to us. We need more information in this area, and we find his insights very enlightening and his style very readable. In our opinion, he's one of the best things that's happened to The Times lately! DOROTHY H. CHADWICK Bradbury

Re George Skelton's column, "Gun Lobby's Words Backfire on Itself," Feb. 23: Let me get this straight. If a woman wears provocative clothing and gets raped, she's a victim. If gun owners have their valuable personal property stolen from them, they are the problem. This is classic blame the victim. Skelton's logic would have us believe that grand theft auto could be eliminated if only none of us owned cars. True enough, I guess, but isn't that a bit punitive on law-abiding auto owners?

Five years ago, the major social issue on the ballot was Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in California until it was invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year. Next year, it may be a referendum on a new law involving transgender students. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill allowing students to participate in school programs and use school facilities that match their gender identity, not their physical sex. For example, a student who was born male but is transgender and lives as a female would be able to use the girl's bathroom.

A customer gave birth to a baby boy at her local Barnes & Noble bookstore in Torrance on Friday, officials said. “I don't know if it happened near the classics or the nonfiction section - but it was definitely smack dab in the store lobby,” said Capt. Steve Deuel of the Torrance Fire Department. “This story begins with a call we got a little after 7:30 p.m. of a woman in labor in the bookstore,” Deuel said. “It was a little bit chaotic when we arrived because a lot of the customers didn't know what was happening.

When lawmakers finished their work just after midnight on Friday morning, they had passed a full slate of significant legislation. Among the measures waiting for Gov. Jerry Brown's signature are an increase to the minimum wage, driver's licenses for illegal immigrants and streamlined environmental regulations. All in all, the session showed that gridlock in Sacramento has faded, wrote George Skelton in his Monday column . "Watching the lawmakers, you don't cringe nearly as much," he writes.

Chalk up another victory for Gov. Jerry Brown, George Skelton writes in his Thursday column. All the top lawmakers are on board with his plan to meet a court order to reduce prison crowding, giving him a clear path to avoid any early releases in the coming months. "There'll be no Willie Horton on his watch," Skelton writes. The deal on prisons was finalized after negotiations with Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), who balked at spending more money on private prisons without new funding for rehabilitation programs.

Earlier this year, Gov. Jerry Brown said he didn't want to keep dumping "more and more money down the rat hole of incarceration. " Since then, "his definition of rat hole obviously has changed," writes George Skelton in his Monday column. Brown wants to spend $315 million this year and $415 the following year to lease beds for inmates in private prisons and other facilities. The plan is designed to satisfy a court order to reduce the state prison population by roughly 9,600 inmates by the end of the year.

In California, some bills move so quickly through the Legislature, no one has a chance to completely understand their potential impact. A measure that would allow noncitizens to serve on juries is one of those bills, George Skelton says in his Thursday column . Supporters have painted the issue as a matter of discrimination -- why bar legal immigrants, they say, from participating in an important part of American civic life? But Skelton says there's no good reason to extend the responsibility to noncitizens.

Consumer activists and lawyers want an initiative on next year's ballot that would increase the maximum amount of damages people could seek in lawsuits over medical malpractice causing pain and suffering. The state has had the same $250,000 cap since 1975. The initiative, which needs enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, would raise that to $1.1 million -- essentially adjusting the cap for four decades of inflation. There would also be annual adjustments. George Skelton says in his Thursday column that it's a fairly simply idea.

On Monday, George Skelton asked the question Gavin Newsom has probably pondered himself -- why have lieutenant governors anyway? It's reached the point where the governor's dog seems more welcome in Sacramento, Skelton says . "Brown's Pembroke Welsh corgi gets invited into the governor's office practically every day," Skelton writes. "Sutter gets lots of petting. He regularly walks with gubernatorial aides in Capitol Park. " Meanwhile, "Newsom essentially gets locked out. " Michael J. Mishak explored Newsom's role -- or lack thereof -- in an article last week , showing how a rising political star in California has been trapped in Sacramento purgatory. To Skelton, it just shows that there's no reason to have a lieutenant governor.